Chapter 20: The Wife Is a Former Valkyrie 01

Morning came, as it always did.

It was another morning that continued to come even after the original Honkai story had ended.

If this had merely been a story set in a fictional world, then the moment the original story ended, it could have wrapped up with a triumphant, “We did it! Honkai Impact 3rd, complete!”

But for me, this moment was reality, not a game.

And reality did not give us time to linger in our feelings over the end of the original story. It made us face another reality.

That was how we spent our days in a blur until the chaos in the world we lived in after the Honkai finally settled down. And before I knew it, I had gotten married.

"Good morning..."

A sleepy voice came from behind me. When I turned my head, my wife and daughter were walking out with matching drowsy eyes, like two peas in a pod.

My wife had come home late last night and gone to sleep after doing paperwork. Apparently, she had not recovered from her fatigue yet, because she quietly yawned behind her hand. Beside her, our daughter held her mother’s hand and rubbed one eye. Then, upon seeing me, she ran over.

I lightly caught my daughter as she threw herself into my arms with a thump, then patted her back. She rubbed her face against my chest.

Her entire body was expressing how much she still wanted to sleep.

It was so cute that I smiled, hugged her tightly, and stroked her hair. My wife approached me with a pout and buried her head against my shoulder with a thump.

"Are you jealous?"

At my words, my wife gave me a look as though asking whether I really needed to ask, then bit my shoulder right where she was resting her head.

"That hurts."

"Hmm-hmm~"

At my groan, my wife pulled her mouth away and slightly exposed the shoulder of my pajamas. She looked at the teeth marks she had left there with a satisfied expression.

What was this supposed to be? She was not an animal leaving a mark that said, “Mine.” Still, she did it every time we had sex, so by now I had gotten used to it.

"Come to think of it, shouldn’t you get washed up? You said you had to leave early today."

"...Ah."

At my words, my wife, who had once again buried her face in my shoulder, lifted her head and checked the time. Then she sprang up and headed for the bathroom.

Watching her, I snickered. It was hard to believe that she was a major figure hailed as a hero of the Great Eruption in this Honkai Impact 3rd world.

Then again, what was even harder to believe was how little her current self matched the impression she had made when we first met.

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I realized this was the Honkai world when I turned fourteen.

Back then, I was working hard, juggling all kinds of part-time jobs alongside my studies. Then I met a certain girl and realized where I was.

"Who are you?"

Put another way, if I had not encountered that white-haired, blue-eyed girl pointing a handgun at the back of my head, I would never have thought this was that universe.

I met the girl while evacuating people from a place where Honkai Beasts had appeared. Her name was Kiana Kaslana.

She was the protagonist of the Honkai Impact 3rd universe.

She noticed that I was helping people, and as we worked together, we became acquainted. Then we learned that, starting that year, we would be attending the same school and even be in the same class. Perhaps that gave us a sense of familiarity, because we grew close quickly.

Sometimes, my mistakes got me branded a pervert and beaten up, but those had been entirely my fault, so I had no excuse.

Thanks to that, she would suspect me before anything else I did, so at first it felt like I was dealing with a feral cat.

"This time, I’m definitely going to win."

"If I win, that’s ten forehead flicks."

"As you wish!"

Still, as we gradually cleared up the misunderstandings and kept ending up in the same places, we slowly began talking more. Before long, we became best friends.

I also learned something new. I had expected her to always act like the tomboy she had been at the beginning of the game, but while we traveled together, she was usually more like the serious Kiana I had seen later in the story.

Or perhaps this was who she truly was?

Either way, after I began spending time with Kiana, I naturally also started hanging out with Mei, whom Kiana had become close to just as in the original story.

"Mei, grind that guy’s face into the dirt with that ball!"

"Huh?"

"Wait, Kiana. No matter how upset you are over losing the test and receiving a punishment, I do not think you should take it out on someone else!"

"Oh, so that’s why your forehead... Kiana, violence isn’t good, okay?"

"Mei, that guy said the other day, ‘Mei kind of seems like an old lady sometimes.’"

"I see. So I just need to go all out?"

"Yeah, Mei. It’s okay, just don’t hit his face!"

"No, that is not okay! And who said she seemed like an old lady?! I said she was like a mom!"

Even if my physical abilities were exceptional, if I took a proper hit from those two future Valkyries, I had no choice but to go down.

Mei did not wield Honkai energy yet, but the physical abilities she had honed through kendo still surpassed those of an ordinary person.

Once, a ball hit me squarely in the face, and I was out cold for three hours.

When I woke up in the infirmary, Kiana clutched her stomach and laughed at me for being a weakling. But who could possibly stay standing after taking an attack like that head-on?!

And for some reason, was it just my imagination that Mei felt stronger than she had been in the original story?

As we spent our days laughing and fooling around like that, it was only natural that I would eventually get caught up in the original story.

Because of that, when Kiana was supposed to throw herself in harm’s way to save Mei in the original story, I intervened and took the attack instead... Honestly, I thought I was going to die.

The wound had been deep enough to leave a scar that remained even now.

After I regained consciousness, the two of them became strangely overprotective, and we ended up spending even more time together.

Ah, but please do not follow me into the bathroom and bathhouse.

And Himeko, please do not drink in front of the students, either.

Showing off? It is just simple overprotectiveness.

No, can’t you tell just by looking? Stop asking with those lecherous expressions how far we have gone.

It is not like that.

I’m telling you, it really isn’t.

Sheesh... Why would you think that? That is exactly why you get called an old lad— Eek?!

I’m sorry. That was a slip of the tongue. So please put down that greatsword.

Hm? Bronya, are you comforting me?

You really are my emotional stabilizer. Thank you.

Whenever things got stressful like that, I was able to calm down again through Bronya therapy.

In any case, after that, we entered the original story’s chapter arcs, and from then on, I truly got swept into one incident after another.

Thinking back on it now, I cannot help saying to myself, “I actually survived all that and started a family.”

Of course, there were things I could not change.

Most of all, no matter what I did, I could not change the incident in which Himeko died.

Because of that, there was a time when I locked myself in my room and did nothing but sob for days.

But I inherited the will Himeko had left behind, even at the cost of becoming that way, and somehow managed to get back on my feet.

Enduring each day, doing what I could, and continuing forward, humanity was ultimately able to defeat the Honkai.

The original story had finally come to an end.

The issue had been Kiana, but fortunately, the original story ended without her having to sacrifice herself.

With this, even the epilogue could proceed more smoothly.

"Come to think of it, now that the Honkai is over, what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, which one of the heroes are you planning to date?"

"Me, with one of them? What a joke."

"Good grief. Do you not know that too much humility becomes arrogance?"

"No, I mean it. There are people more capable than me who earn more money, so why would they choose me?"

"Oh, stop talking nonsense. I guarantee it: you will definitely marry one of them."

"Haha. Well, I won’t get my hopes up."

There was no way those girls could have romantic feelings for me.

That was something I had dismissed without a second thought... I never imagined it would actually happen.

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"What are you thinking about so deeply?"

"Ah, I was just remembering the old days for a moment."

Had she been worried because I was staring blankly at her?

My wife lightly waved a hand in front of me as she asked. I came back to my senses and answered her.

After our child was born, our household adopted one rule.

For our daughter’s emotional development, we would speak to each other with gentle politeness.

Simply put, we had started doing it so that respect and courtesy would naturally become ingrained in her.

"What old days?"

"Things that happened after the Honkai ended."

"Ah, then... For some reason, the Will of Honkai took you away, and it was complete chaos."

"When I came to back then, everyone was crying, so I was really startled."

"We were just as startled. We were truly panicking then."

As she said that, she let out a deep sigh and gripped my hand. I could feel a faint tremor in her hand.

Feeling how much she cared about me, I smiled and gently held her hand.

"You will not suddenly leave like you did then, right?"

"Of course not, as long as you do not want me to."

"That is a relief. Ah, it is already time..."

With a relieved expression, my wife took the hand of our daughter, who was looking at us with wide, sparkling eyes, and headed for the front door.

"I’m off, dear."

"Take care, Bronya. You too, sweetheart. Have a good day."

"I’m off!"

At my words, my wife gave a small wave, while my daughter gave an enthusiastic one. Then they went out through the front door.

Huh?

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